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In the late 19th Century, soon after the invention of the Kinetoscope, Thomas Alva Edison built the world’s first film production studio. Here over 100 movies were made in an oddly shaped building constructed with a tar-paper covering and a ceiling window. The studio was nicknamed the Black Maria by Edison’s workers and the first films shot there included segments of magic shows, plays, vaudeville performances, including dancers and strongmen, Native American Indians, acts from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, various boxing matches, cockfights, and scantily-clad women.

In the same way in which the films shot in The Black Maria celebrated the eclectic, the astonishing and the exceptional — Black Maria Studios will bring film and video productions that fly in the face of mainstream media